Bio Orig

About Jason

Civilians trapped in a war zone without humanitarian aid. Child labor in overseas factories that export to the West. Migrants navigating the most hostile routes on earth in search for a better life. These are the kinds of stories I’ve pursued over the past decade as a multimedia journalist and filmmaker. I write, take pictures and produce videos; and when it feels right, I may get in front of the camera. But the goal remains the same: to seek out hard, under-reported issues and make them resonate as deeply as possible.

Formerly TIME Magazine’s Afghanistan correspondent, I have reported from more than fifty countries and a half-dozen conflicts spanning West Africa to Southeast Asia for National Geographic, Outside, The Washington Post, The Guardian and The Economist. On the broadcast side, I produce and host films for Al Jazeera English, AJ+ and SBS Dateline.Much of my journalism has been supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, where I am an International Reporting Fellow. Project pages for investigations into Bangladesh’s export garment industry, a hidden resource war in Burma and a range of other subjects can be found here.

This ongoing partnership has allowed me to share my reporting at schools and universities around the world. With our fast-paced, digitally mediated lifestyle, I prefer live events that offer direct engagement and build community around issues that matter. I’m also a contributing editor at VQR and member of the Overseas Press Club.

After years of roadwork as a one-man-band, I founded Blackbeard Films out of a yearning to collaborate and explore new creative frontiers. We’re based in Oakland, CA, with a global network of seasoned journalists and producers that share a commitment to challenging stories. We offer trainings on multimedia journalism and guerilla filmmaking.

Please get in touch if you have ideas to share, want to tag-team a project, organize a talk/screening, or just need some guidance on making it as an independent journalist in an ever-shifting landscape. In many ways this line of work is even more challenging than when I started. We’re all trying to get by and get better, and we need allies.